Novotel Sheffield Centre

Courtney on reception is always the star of my stays at Novotel Sheffield. She’s remembered me and my son, who’s at Sheffield Hallam University, since our first visit two years ago. She checks that the room and stay are going well, knows the local area well, and greets guests with a friendly smile. That welcome means a lot after I’ve travelled several hours and more than 200 miles. I’m already looking forward to going back. I’m a regular visitor to Sheffield, and this was probably my 12th visit in two years. They consistently get things right. The city centre location is excellent, and the rooms are always clean, spacious, comfortable and well maintained. Having a car park at the hotel is handy, but it costs £18 per night. You also pay each time you leave and return during the day, and spaces are limited. If it’s full, you’ll need a public car park. The pool and steam room are small but lovely. The pool can get busy when the hotel is full, so you might need to book a swim ahead. Sometimes the steam room isn’t working.

The room was a highlight, with a good layout, a decent fridge, lovely toiletries, and a brilliant fold-out bed for our child. It was clean, and the pool was great too. The location is excellent, and we enjoyed the stay overall. A few things could be better. The room got very hot with no air conditioning, and opening the window brought in a lot of street noise. The bar felt odd at times because there were no staff around, and we often had to wait for someone to order drinks. The parking discount still left parking very expensive on top of the room, and one coffee pod per person every 24 hours felt a bit stingy. The staff we met in person were excellent, polite and helpful throughout. It’s a nice hotel with good facilities and location, though some areas could use improvement.

The pool was a nice feature and the location was good, but the stay had some disappointments. The room was an okay size for four, though it was quite dusty and the pillows were uncomfortable. Breakfast felt meagre and has gone downhill since our last visit. Parking costs £18 a night and the spaces are very tight. Sadly, I won’t be rushing back.

The check-in staff were very friendly, and let us into the room early when we came to drop off our bags. The reception and bar area looked nice, and the service was good. But I wouldn’t stay in that room again. It looked dated, the carpet was stained, and there was no toilet brush or air freshener. The bathroom and toilet doors had no locks. We each had one thin, lumpy pillow, and by the time we noticed it felt too late to ask for more. The room was hot and stuffy at night, so we slept poorly.